Lake effect and cold in Central New York through Wednesday, then we start to warm

There is light at the end of the tunnel and finally, its not the headlight of the Polar Express. Once we get to Thursday, the cold air over us will begin to exit. By the end of the week we will be back into the 50s. So for us, the only thing between now and some real and lasting springtime weather is two days of cold, and some lake effect.

This new air now blowing in over the Great Lakes is not only cold down near the ground, but it's amazingly cold in the upper atmosphere. This provides the environment for towering clouds and locally heavy snow showers.

During the night tonight, most of the snow in Central New York will be concentrated downwind or a little southeast of Lake Ontario. A times tonight and early Tuesday the snow will be heavy across Oswego and Oneida Counties. There may also be some additional snow showers over the Finger Lakes off Lake Erie.

This air coming in is also quite dry. That could be a limiting factor in how heavy the snow will be. It seems reasonable that accumulations east of Lake Ontario should be in the 4 to 10 inch range with a few places, especially over higher elevations getting a little more.

The rest of Central New York should get less than an inch of new snow except over the Finger Lakes where a couple of inches could occur off Lake Erie.

Syracuse Forecast:

This evening and tonight: Partly cloudy skies, continued breezy with scattered snow showers. Less than an inch is likely except perhaps an inch or two over the Finger Lakes. Low in the lower 20s.

Tuesday: Continued windy with snow showers becoming widespread across Central New York. Another inch is possible, mainly over higher elevations. High in the mid 30s.